Lis Wiehl continues the story of top-ranked TV newscaster Erica Sparks in “The Candidate,” a timely novel with its presidential election theme.

As Erica begins covering the life of democratic nominee Sen. Mike Ortiz, she beings to suspect that not all is as it seems. Sensing a strange relationship between Ortiz and his wife, Celeste, Erica begins to dig into his American hero story — of being captured by and then escaping from an al-Qaeda hostage and torture situation.

As she digs deeper into the situation, and tries to figure out why Ortiz at times almost seems brainwashed, more and more dangerous and fatal situations occur to those close to Erica. She must decide how far she, herself, is willing to go to get to the root of the story.

“The Candidate” is a fast-paced political thriller filled with intriguing characters, bombings, espionage, murder and treason. Wiehl, with support from fellow author Sebastian Stuart, does a great job of moving the storyline along, and keeping readers guessing as to how each event is connected — and who is responsible. Fans of Vince Flynn, Joel C. Rosenberg, David Baldacci or even Mary Higgins Clark will enjoy this book.

The novel also does delve into some issues we all struggle with, like insecurity, trust, determination and sacrifice.

Wiehl’s latest novel could definitely be read as a standalone, although it does refer to plot lines in the first book — so I’d recommend reading it too. I will say I actually liked “The Candidate” better than the series’ first installment. Sometimes the sequel can be better!